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Kimberly Grant, CEO, ThinkFoodGroup
When ThinkFoodGroup, the global hospitality management company behind innovative dining concepts created by Michelin-starred chef José Andrés, was gearing up for rapid expansion in 2014, it hired Kimberly Grant as COO.
In just five short years, Grant has risen to ThinkFoodGroup’s top leadership position and has been a driving force behind the company’s growth, helping it to flourish to more than 29 properties in 8 cities in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Many who have worked alongside Grant credit her success to a unique combination of expertise in operations, marketing, finance and team leadership.
Grant has been methodically building her leadership chops for decades, most recently at Ruby Tuesday Inc., where she spent 14 years and rose to the role of the chief operations officer and president, and was directly responsible for more than 800 restaurants with $1.3 billion in revenue.
In 2019, you’ll likely find Grant driving TFG forward, including helping Andres to finally take Manhattan with the highly anticipated spring opening of Mercado Little Spain, a 35,000-square-foot Spanish food hall in the massive Hudson Yards development that will be Andres’ first restaurant in New York City.
